TSX Rises For 5th Straight Day, Moves Closer To 20k Mark

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market extended its winning streak to a fifth day, as easing worries about a global banking crisis helped underpin sentiment on Thursday.

Shares from consumer staples, utilities, communications, real estate and technology sectors were among the notable gainers.

A few stocks from consumer discretionary, industrials and materials sectors moved up as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 103.34 points or 0.52% at 19,940.99, near the day's high of 19,949.11.

Filo Mining (FIL.TO) gained 6.6%. Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), Stantec Inc (STN.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), George Weston (WN.TO) and Cargojet (CJT.TO) gained 1.6 to 2.5%.

TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO) and Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) both ended lower by about 2.3%. Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) and Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO) also closed notably lower.

In economic news, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a report showing Canada's business barometer long-term optimism index rose to a nine-month high of 55.3 in March, from an upwardly revised 51.8 in February.

Data from Statistics Canada showed average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose for the 20th straight month, increasing by 2.9% year-on-year to $1,185.39 in January 2023, up from a downwardly revised 2.6% increase in the prior month.